IDC Expects Microsoft To Unbundle Kinect Sensor From The Xbox One To Improve Sales Against Sony PS4

International Data Corporation (IDC) research firm recently released their forecast on the new packaged video game and entertainment console systems. They reported that Sony’s PS4 will emerge with the largest global installed base of any console by the end of 2016. They also predicted that Microsoft will unbundle Kinect from Xbox One to reduce the price in the market and thereby increasing the sales against Sony’s PS4. This seems to be a strange prediction given the fact that Microsoft has openly said that they have no plans to unbundle Kinect from Xbox One. There was a bright spot for Microsoft in the report, they suggested that China remains the biggest global wild card. Microsoft recently announced that Xbox One will be available in China from this September.

“If Microsoft unbundles the Kinect sensor from the Xbox One console as we expect in 2015, this should lead to rough price parity with the PS4 and reset the sales dynamic at retail,” explained Lewis Ward, Research Director, Gaming at IDC. “We project this change will lead to enough of a console sales bump that Xbox One will emerge with the largest installed base of any console in North America by the end of 2016. The PS4 should still lead globally, but the unbundling of Kinect and Xbox One should move the sales needle enough to give Xbox One the installed base edge in the United States and Canada before the end of 2016.”